AMOCO &lt;AN> MAY BUY DOME &lt;DMP>, REPORT SAYS
  Amoco Corp is apparently the successful
  bidder for debt-laden Dome Petroleum Ltd, according to a
  published report.
      The Toronto Globe and Mail, quoting sources close to the
  negotiations, today said Dome broke off talks last night with
  TransCanada PipeLines Ltd, which last week announced a 4.3
  billion Canadian dlr offer for all of Dome's assets.
      No financial details about the Amoco offer were available
  and a Dome spokesman would neither confirm nor deny that Amoco
  had emerged the winner, the newspaper said.
      However, the Dome spokesman indicated that the sale of Dome
  could be finalized and announced this weekend, the Globe and
  Mail said.
      Representatives of Amoco were not immediately available for
  comment.
      Last Sunday, when TransCanada announced its offer, Dome
  said it was also in talks with two other companies, but refused
  to identify them.
      Since then, market speculation has centered on Amoco and
  Exxon Corp's &lt;XON> 70 pct-owned Imperial Oil Ltd subsidiary in
  Canada.
      British Petroleum PLC &lt;BP> and Royal Dutch/Shell Group &lt;RD>
  have also been mentioned as possible suitors for Dome.
      In the past two days, Dome management has been pressured by
  the federal government to select the offer from TransCanada,
  the only Canadian company in the bidding.
      Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government appears to want
  to avoid a Dome sale to a foreign company since the government
  gave Dome hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to
  encourage oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, analysts and
  officials have said.
      A purchase by TransCanada would be least likely to run
  afoul of Canadian antitrust laws, however, TransCanada is
  asking for tax concessions from a federal government that is
  trying to hold its deficit below 30 billion Canadian dlrs,
  analysts have said.
      A takeover by Amoco or Imperial would also give a foreign
  oil company a dominant position in Canada's oil industry.
      Imperial Oil is already Canada's largest energy company,
  with 1986 revenues of 7.1 billion Canadian dlrs. Chicago-based
  Amoco had 1986 revenues of 20.23 billion U.S. dlrs. Its Amoco
  Canada Petroleum subsidiary is 100 pct owned by Amoco Corp.
  

